The present invention relates to a disk player which regenerates information from a disk-type recording medium and/or records information on the same, and more particularly to a disk player of a kind, which is improved in relationship between opening/closing timing of a shutter arranged on a disk cartridge for accommodating the disk-type recording medium, and an information regenerating location and/or an information recording location. The present invention also relates to a disk player of a kind, which is improved in a driving mechanism thereof, for upward and downward shifting a recording mechanism which records information on the disk-type recording medium.
As is widely known, a disk cartridge of a disk player, which accommodates therein a disk-type recording medium, is provided with a slidable shutter for properly exposing an information surface of the disk-type recording medium. The shutter is closed normally, to thereby protect the disk-type recording medium in the disk cartridge from an external environment.
Therefore, in conventional disk players, when information is regenerated from the information surface of the disk-type recording medium or the information is recorded on the same, the following complicated operations are required: First, the disk cartridge is carried to a predetermined location by a carrier mechanism, and at the same time the shutter of the disk cartridge is fully opened by means of a shutter opening/closing mechanism mounted in the disk player, to thereby expose the information surface of the disk-type recording medium. Then, the information is regenerated from the exposed information surface by means of an optical pickup provided in the disk player, or the information is recorded on the exposed information surface by means of the optical pickup and a magnetic head.
The above-mentioned conventional disk players are operated in the following two modes with respect to information regeneration and information recording:
In the first mode, when the disk cartridge is located at an information regenerating location in the disk player, the shutter is fully opened by means of the shutter opening/closing mechanism. Thereafter, while the disk cartridge is further shifted from the location to an information recording location in the disk player, the magnetic head is disposed in sliding contact with the information surface of the disk-type recording medium, to thereby carry out information recording.
In the first mode, however, when the disk cartridge is further shifted from the information regenerating location to the information recording location, an additional configuration for shifting the shutter opening/closing mechanism of the disk player together with the disk cartridge, or alternatively a configuration for detaching the shutter opening/closing mechanism from the disk cartridge in the above state while maintaining the fully open state of the shutter is required. Therefore, the configuration for shifting both the carrier mechanism and the shutter opening/closing mechanism or the configuration for separating the two mechanisms from each other complicates and upsizes the disk player, resulting in an increased number of component elements and hence a rise in manufacturing costs.
On the other hand, in the second mode of the disk player, the information regenerating location and the information recording location are set to the same location, and the shutter is fully opened at the location, followed by disposing the magnetic head in sliding contact with the information surface of the disk-type recording medium to carry out information recording.
In this mode, however, the carrier mechanism must be detached from the disk cartridge, and then the magnetic head is driven to be disposed in sliding contact with the information surface of the disk-type information recording medium, by the carrier mechanism. Alternatively, a magnetic head driving mechanism for driving the magnetic head must be additionally installed. Therefore, if the carrier mechanism is further shifted or the magnetic head driving mechanism for driving the magnetic head is additionally employed, the construction of the disk player is further complicated and upsized. In addition, the number of component elements is increased, which inevitably leads to increase manufacturing costs of the disk player.
Besides, in either mode, to hold the information recording medium inserted into the disk player, on a turn table, a supporting member for supporting the turn table need to be relatively shifted with respect to the information recording medium, and further, during information recording, the magnetic head need to be relatively shifted with respect to the information recording medium. Thus, both the supporting member and the magnetic head need to be relatively shifted with respect to the information recording medium, which complicates and upsizes the driving mechanism, resulting in a further inconvenience, e.g. that the accuracy of a vertical location cannot be improved.
Therefore, it is a first object of the invention to provide a disk player which is capable of simplifying the construction of a shutter sliding mechanism for operating a shutter, such that the shutter is slide-opened/closed between a closed state and an open state, depending on the location of a disk cartridge when it is loaded on the disk player to carry out information regeneration or information recording.
It is a second object of the invention to provide a disk player which is capable of simplifying the construction of a driving mechanism as well as improving the accuracy of a vertical location of a magnetic head of an information recording mechanism with respect to the disk-type recording medium loaded on the disk cartridge.
To attain the first object, the present invention provides a disk player having a disk cartridge for being loaded on the disk player, and accommodating a disk-type recording medium having an information surface, the disk cartridge having a shutter arranged thereon for performing slide-opening/closing in order to expose the information surface of the disk-type recording medium, the disk player comprising a carrier mechanism for carrying the disk cartridge to an information regenerating location and an information recording location in the disk player, and a shutter sliding mechanism for slide-opening/closing the shutter arranged on the disk cartridge, wherein the shutter is in an intermediate position of sliding when the disk cartridge is located at one of the information regenerating location and the information recording location, and is in a terminal position of the sliding when the shutter is located at the other one of the information regenerating location and the information recording location.
As a result, the construction of the shutter sliding mechanism is simplified such that the shutter is slide-opened/closed between a closed state and an open state, depending on the location of the disk cartridge when it is loaded on the disk player to carry out information regeneration or information recording. The information surface of the disk-type recording medium can be exposed only in a range thereof required for information regeneration or information recording, whereby the protection of the information surface of the disk-type recording medium can be attained. Further, it is also possible to reduce the number of component elements and manufacturing cost of the disk player and to miniaturize the disk player.
Preferably, the disk player includes a disk rotating mechanism for holding and rotating the disk-type recording medium, and wherein the disk-type recording medium is loaded on the disk rotating mechanism before the shutter reaches the intermediate position of the sliding.
As a result, when the shutter of the disk cartridge assumes the intermediate position of the sliding, the disk-type recording medium in the disk cartridge is in a rotatable state. That is, when the shutter assumes the intermediate position of the sliding, the disk-type information recording medium can be located at either the information regenerating location or the information recording location.
More preferably, the disk player includes information reading means for reading information from the disk-type recording medium and information recording means for recording information on the disk-type recording medium, wherein the shutter is in the intermediate position of the sliding when the disk cartridge is located at the information regenerating location, to thereby allow the information reading means to read the information from the disk-type recording medium, and wherein the shutter is in the terminal position of the sliding when the disk cartridge is located at the information recording location, to thereby allow the information recording means to record the information on the disk-type recording medium.
As a result, when the disk cartridge is located at the information regenerating location, the shutter of the disk cartridge can be made half open, i.e. the information surface of the disk-type recording medium can be exposed only in a range thereof required for information regeneration, leading to protection of the information surface of the disk-type recording medium. Further, when the disk cartridge is located at the information recording location, the shutter of the disk cartridge can be fully opened.
Advantageously, operation of the shutter sliding mechanism for slide-opening/closing the shutter is achieved by linearly moving the carrier mechanism in predetermined directions.
As a result, complicated component elements for operating the carrier mechanism can be dispensed with, whereby the carrier mechanism can be operated in a simple manner with simple component elements.
To attain the second object, the present invention provides a disk player having a disk rotating mechanism for holding and rotating a disk-type information recording medium, a supporting member for mounting the disk rotating mechanism thereon, an information recording mechanism arranged on the supporting member, for recording information on the disk-type recording medium by approaching and leaving the disk-type recording medium, and a driving mechanism for driving the information recording mechanism, wherein the driving mechanism comprises an engaging element arranged on the supporting member and an engaged element which is formed separately from the engaging element and separated from the engaging element when the information recording mechanism is not driven.
As a result, the accuracy of a vertical location of the information recording mechanism with respect to the disk-type recording medium held on the disk rotating mechanism can be improved, and the construction of the driving mechanism can be simplified.
Preferably, the supporting member can perform reciprocating motion in predetermined directions, the engaging element is allowed to engage with and disengage from the engaged element, during the reciprocating motion of the supporting member in the predetermined directions.
As a result, the construction of the driving mechanism can be more simplified.
Also preferably, the supporting member can be relatively shifted with respect to the disk-type recording medium, during the reciprocating motion of the supporting member in the predetermined directions.
As a result, the accuracy of the vertical location of the information recording mechanism with respect to the disk-type recording medium can be more improved.
More preferably, with the shifting of the supporting member in one of the predetermined directions in the reciprocating motion, the engaging element is engaged with the engaged element and at the same time the disk-type recording medium is held on the disk rotating mechanism.
Further preferably, the driving mechanism drives the information recording mechanism upon the engagement between the engaging element and the engaged element.
As a result, the construction of the driving mechanism can be further simplified.